REVIEW 1: UMEIMBA WIMBO WA SIFA

Heaven is an abode for the living

Even before it happened, our own Jobjow of Angaza Family Radio had informed me of a big fourth birthday bash that was going to be held on Saturday December 15 for the Angaza Sharon SDA Church. He actually did invite me but I used the cold weather as an excuse to stay away, claiming that it would knock me stiff (I live in the Caribbean, where it is hot even when cold). Now that he has uploaded at least two numbers that were performed during the bash, I am accusing him of withholding from me the best part of the sequence – that some of the best singers in the world are members of Angaza Sharon SDA Church’s extended family. And that they were going to be in attendance.

I believe two days after the birthday bash, Jobjow uploaded the two videos from the function, Panapo Matata by the Messengers and Umeimba Wimbo Wa Sifa. These are great videos in the context of spontaneity and unless there is a tie, one is always supposed to be better than the other. Umeimba Wimbo Wa Sifa, by a wide berth, is the song that rises to the top and gives one the feeling of being in heaven. Unfortunately some of our people still associate the act of being in heaven with dying. Excuse me! That is the worst mistake one could make out of what we learnt in Sunday school, because Heaven is not a mortuary. Only persons alive by the blood of Jesus Christ have a title deed for heaven. Pastor Lee Kĩmani can testify to that fact.

Jobjow is an unfortunate man because I had to wake him up in the middle of the night to find out who those beautiful men and women singing with such passion were. He informed me that it was a mass choir made up of His Majesty Choir and Mustard Seed Choir from Delaware; and Messengers Choir and Maranatha Choirs out of New Jersey. They were led by among others Daniel Mbũgua, Richard Mageto and Douglas Sarara, with Samson Kibaso of Kurasini SDA Choir in Tanzania being the original composer. The fact that my tribesman and brother Daniel Mbũgua who did a marvelous job was the conductor of the day, I decided to ask someone else do a review of the song for me not to be accused of bias.

The person who accepted to do the review is 80-year-old Mr Amba Trott a Canadian who now lives in semi-retirement in the island of his mother’s birth, Nevis in the Caribbean. Amba is no ordinary man on the street. He is a professional actor and musician with an experience that goes back to 1942 as a member of the Montreal Negro Theatre Guild in Canada. He is a playwright/director and his best known production is a musical ‘Horatio’ produced in 1987 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the marriage of Horatio and Fanny Nisbett.

This was his verdict:
“Just had a look at the video you sent. I don't claim to be any expert, but here is my honest impression:
A thoroughly delightful and engaging piece.
A simple but lively melody is carried by a blend of well balanced voices. The lighter altos and sopranos joyously articulating the words with clear enunciation, are well backed up and supported by the deeper lush tones and harmonies of the baritones and basses.
No false starts, discords, or other mishaps are evident. Just a very solid and very pleasing performance overall, right from the basses' opening phrases, to the unified stately and dignified ending by the group. They not only sing well, but they look good and carry themselves well too, albeit some a little more so than others. The choreographed movements are well done and quite effectively adds visual impact through appropriate animation.
The instrumentation very commendably stays unobtrusively in the background, except at the introduction and transition where a key change occurs. This gives the choral group every opportunity to shine and they do not waste a moment of it. In my opinion the group in this piece performs very close to a professional standard.”

Those are the impressions of a man who does not even know that I belong to the same tribe as Daniel Mbũgua. He does not even know what tribes are made of.

I will however want to add one or two comments of my own, because it is not my intention to abdicate all of my duties. At first I thought that the videography was rather wanting, but looking at it more carefully in the context of the circumstances surrounding the performance, Jobjow has been able to capture it in a very unique way thereby encompassing very special sound and visual effects that one would take for granted. Indeed, if the song would be performed in a studio setup, it would not have the same distinctive effects.

One does not need to be told that it was performed in front of a live audience because the din of assembled person is well captured, with people walking in front of the camera and others chatting and kids screaming for joy. One woman is clearly heard calling out ‘nanii’. While my friend Amba noted that there are no false starts, I might add but for one guy I observed (check counter frames 1:57 – 2:01) where he is seen waving to someone and he opens his mouth a second or two after the others, whereas before him (1:48 – 1:53) two ladies had been distracted by an activity off camera, but they recovered fast enough to seamlessly rejoin the flow.

Of course we are humans, and one lady is caught trying to suppress the effects of tiredness (3:00 – 3:02). Jobjow is caught in an episode where he sweeps his camera over people’s heads to capture the start of the salute (3:48 – 3:52) and he makes it! But a father is caught trying to direct his son in the salute game (3:55 – 4:03) yet the boy is doing better than the father. Two men are caught looking at a paper which looks to me like a title deed of their shamba in Nyamira (5:29 – 5:32). However the most outstanding part is where (from 6:00 onwards) the ladies have to march with guarded care to avoid trampling the children who are also doing their thing trying to beat their parents.

If the melody of this great song gave me the feel of being in Heaven, then I can say that it has given me the assurance of life. I will be reckless in my awarding it points by giving it the perfect score, which is a five. Five green stars for Umeimba Wimbo Wa Sifa.